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Sleep

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Original poster

Do two year olds dream?

19 replies

LittleMyDancing · 03/06/2008 22:10

DS (2 in April) woke up early from his nap today crying his eyes out. When I picked him up he said 'the grey car come in the house - the different grey car'. He's very articulate and his speech is pretty advanced, so it's not just babbling, iyswim. (Not showing off my child, just giving some context)

took me quite a bit of time to comfort him.

then tonight he simply would NOT go to bed in his cot, kept asking to sleep in our bed or for more cuddles. Turned into a marathon session of letting him cry, cuddling him, reasoning with him etc. Normally we put him in bed and that's that, no fuss, no bother, he's never been like this before.

Has he had a bad dream? Is he now scared of his cot? What do I do?

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WowOoo · 03/06/2008 22:15

My 2yr old has dreams where he wakes up screaming and takes a while to settle. He tells me about his dreams - some about cars too fast, train going in the tunnels, lots of Thomas the tank related things. "Rusty watch the boulder" "Percy in the tunnel", "Toby is a flood" ! etc etc. Bless!
So, much less TV was one thing!
We've let him sleep with us recently as he's been poorly and tonight was just a battle. Sure he will wake up and demand to come into our bed alter too. We are thinking up a plan now. Think it will involve letting him cry it ot a bit, but we'll wait til he's 100% better. Good luck!

WowOoo · 03/06/2008 22:16

Oh yeah. Your anme made me think. Bought Moomion DVD ( for me really) There were some scary bits on that, so not watching that with him!

Fanella · 03/06/2008 22:17

I can't really remember but I'm pretty sure my dd dreamt at that age.

I found this about sleep for toddlers from 1-3 years old:

"Active dreaming begins at this age, and for very young children, dreams can be pretty alarming. Nightmares are particularly frightening to a toddler, who can't distinguish imagination from reality. (So carefully select what TV programs, if any, your toddler sees before bedtime.)"

WowOoo · 03/06/2008 22:17

You name and Moomin Sorry!

Fanella · 03/06/2008 22:18

oh yeah dd used to dream about Thomas a lot too!

WowOoo · 03/06/2008 22:19

I find Bod, Postman Pat and the occasional Thom the tank the only things I will allow now!

Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 03/06/2008 22:20

poor lamb, have no idea what the grey car was doing, but it's obviously scared him rigid! He was saying something about an orange shirt as well, clearly all rather bizarre.

DP let him watch some of Spirited Away the other day, maybe we'll knock that on the head in future....

Any ideas of how to comfort him? I tried saying that sometimes when we sleep we get pictures in our head, but that they're not real and they can't hurt him, but he still seems really spooked.

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Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 03/06/2008 22:23

The Moomins can be a bit scary, especially Little My

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Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 04/06/2008 19:24

Ok so now he just WON'T sleep in his cot - after last night's screaming match which ended in him eventually falling asleep at 9pm, he was really tired and grumpy all day and fell asleep in his buggy at 5pm..

Get to bed time, all fine, pjs, teeth, story, cuddle, then we get to the bit where I put him in his cot and he immediately goes rigid and won't have it. So for the sake of him getting some sleep and me having an evening, I've put him down in our bed, but this is not sustainable - DP is back tomorrow so there won't be much room!

Any tips on getting him back into his cot? He just keeps saying 'No, not the cot!'

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littlelapin · 04/06/2008 19:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 04/06/2008 19:31

oh no, they're in cahoots! (haven't used that word for ages )

no more Spirited Away, that's one thing, but how on earth do I get him to like his cot again?

p.s. your DS is very gorgeous!

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peggotty · 04/06/2008 19:33

Does he have a light on in his room at night? Can you buy him a special 'bad dream banishing' teddy? Soft music as he falls asleep or maybe move his cot to a different part of the room? Poor little thing, sounds like the dream's really freaked him out.

thebecster · 04/06/2008 19:36

Mine has started having nightmares too - "The prawns got me mummy! The prawns!" (Huh? PRAWNS? He hasn't seen anything scarey on TV, this is all the product of his fevered imagination!)
I lay down next to cot the first night and held his hand, and he went to sleep with me. Also we talked a lot about prawns and how they're actually quite sweet little pink things, and we had prawn sandwiches which I wiggled so that they were doing a little song and dance routine and made him laugh.
But I guess it will be something else next. Shrimp, maybe?

Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 04/06/2008 19:54

Prawns? Wow. That's an imagination! I've tried asking him about the dream, but he doesn't say anything now, not sure he understands. And I've tried asking him why he won't go in the cot, but I just get a blank look and 'Noooooooo!'

He won't even get in the cot, when he's been unsettled in the past I've sung to him and stayed with him like you suggest, but he won't go near it at all

I like the idea of moving his cot - I've been measuring up for his first proper bed so maybe it's time to get it and get rid of the cot. Sigh.

He's definitely not worried about going to sleep, as he went down with no problems in our bed.

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Just5minspeace · 04/06/2008 20:07

We discuss what DD is going to dream about - fairies, horses, ice-cream etc and try and make her laugh. We went through a terrible phase of not liking monsters (due, I think, to a video at CM..)and that seems to have helped. Also the big bed thing may be useful as there have been times when she has run out of the bedroom screaming so at least she can get away.
Having said that she is a great sleeper and, hopefully, it is just a phase. Good luck!

Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 04/06/2008 20:18

trouble is, he's a bit too little - he won't talk about the dream and has probably forgotten it mostly by now, so I can't have a conversation about it with him, iyswim. think he's just reacting to the cot without really knowing what scared him about it.

oh well, at least he's asleep, even if it's in the wrong place!

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littlelapin · 04/06/2008 21:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

LittleMyDancing · 04/06/2008 21:40

lapin, that's naughty - you'll send thebecster's DC over the edge!

Sandy indeed - he had suncream on his face and decided to lie face down on the beach and wave his arms and legs. toddlers are brilliant.

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eenybeeny · 05/06/2008 20:55

saw this thread yesterday and didnt have a chance to post.

Does anyone remember that show on in Summer of 2006 called Life Before Birth?

It said babies dream while in the womb - they did brain activity monitoring to find that out. And dreaming carries on all through life. I have always assumed that babies of any age dream - They have a consciousness so why wouldnt they? Dogs dream. Mice probably dream!

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